Contents: At the epicenter of attention; Ignoring future generations; Between Scylla and Charybdis; A new trend in journalism; Poleconomics in unreliability; How is it to live in Greece?; Greece as a special case: but ideal for journalists!; Post scriptum; Appendix; Sources accessed; Index.
Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is research fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) in Athens where he also works as a journalist covering politics and international relations. He has cooperated with the European Council on Foreign Relations, Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Friedrich Ebert Foundation and is a regular contributor to international news agencies and media organisations such as Al-Jazeera, Associated Press, BBC, CCTV, France 24, Reuters, RAI, RTL and ZDF. Tzogopoulos’ publications include the book US Foreign Policy in the European Media: Framing the Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism.
'Media reporting on the Greek crisis has been often biased and has deepened the rift between Greece and the outside world. George Tzogopoulos offers a sober and courageous analysis of both the Greek crisis and the international media reporting on Greece.' Hansjorg Brey, Southeast Europe Association, Munich, Germany 'George Tzogopoulos provides an insightful commentary on what has arguably become the gravest economic crisis to afflict an European Union member state. He does so from the vantage point of being an academic who became a prolific media commentator helping non-Greek journalists to interpret what has been going on inside the country over the last few traumatic years. What Tzogopoulos offers in this books is a comprehensive guide as to how the news media at home and abroad have both portrayed and contributed to the development of this particular story. In doing so he captures the still great uncertainty as to how the political economies of both Greece and the wider EU will recover from what has been the greatest challenge to the integrationist project since its inception after the Second World War.' Dominic Wring, Loughborough University, UK 'In these times of crisis, Europe is in desperate need for mutual recognition between its peoples. Instead, old stereotypes and new accusations have surfaced again in its political landscape. Nowhere is this pattern more acute than in the case of the Greek crisis and its perception by outsiders. This book provides a fascinating first account of this story while providing a critical assessment of the claims made in the media. The research is absolutely thorough and the analysis spot on. A must for anyone interested in the fate of the EU and the impact of the financial crisis on its citizen's collective imagination.' Kalypso Nicolaidis, University of Oxford, UK 'George Tzogopoulos' book is first account to analyse the role of journalists in a crisis threatening the integrity of the eurozone. As an instructive interlocutor for many foreign journalists during these critical years, the author is ideally placed to analyse how the stories coming from Greece were framed for outside audiences.' Damian Mac Con Uladh, correspondent for The Irish Times, Greece 'In his book Tzogopoulos nicely explains why the international media focused more on Greece than on other problematic countries of the eurozone in the first years of the crisis. This rich and original work offers a fascinating analysis of the role of journalists from a theoretical and practical perspective and correctly employs the "Greek effect" as a new model in political communication.' Paul Ronzheimer, Journalist, Bild newspaper, Germany 'Tzogopoulos' book offers us a profound and invaluable insight into the role the media have played during the crisis. It helps readers to get a more authentic picture of what is going on in Greece based on the author's thorough analysis and practical experience of being a regular contributor to international news agencies.' Gong Ming, Correspondent, China Central TV (CCTV), Greece 'George Tzogopoulos's book undoubtedly constitutes a valuable reference manual on the crisis prevailing in Greece. This talented analyst thoroughly explores the impact of austerity on Greek society and also gives an overall view through the eyes of a foreign correspondent. This book enables us to understand how Greece, a pocket-sized country but so rich in history, is the starting point, laboratory and mirror of a new Europe, which has changed very rapidly at the economic and political level, without necessarily leading to the shaping of a union of peoples, ideas and cultures, as envisioned by founder of the EU, Robert Schumann.' Alexia Kefalas, Journalist, Le Figaro 'When the crisis in Greece became acute in 2009, it took not only Greek society by surprise but also the foreign media that had neglected Greece in the years before. The coverage that followed was often perceived by Greek society and authorities as being inaccurate and biased. In his new book, George Tzogopoulos analyses the way the Greek crisis was presented in foreign media. A charismatic analyst with the prestigious Greek think tank ELIAMEP, he has been guiding foreign journalists - most of them not familiar with Greek society and language - through the crisis by providing them with much appreciated comments and insight about what is happening in Greece. Besides a profound comparison of how international and Greek media portrayed Greece, the book also includes a balanced summary and interpretation of how the PIIGS states are handling the crisis. Tzogopoulos provides a convincing explanation why the "Greek case" has drawn so much media attention. Thoroughly researched and written in an accessible style this piece is a good read that deserves a wide audience.' Elena Panagiotidis, journalist, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Switzerland 'Tzogopoulos expertly weaves a historical narrative of the crisis going back to 1981, and probes its origins by focusing on the practice of clientelism that he rightly suggests has been central to the actions of Greece's conservative and socialist parties alike... the picture the author paints of a society deeply immersed in the logic of clientelism, of a value system that frustrated innovation and rendered the state a guarantor of access to jobs, loans and a host of privileges, however grim, is hard to dismiss... The Greek Crisis in the Media also offers a compelling account of the European dimension of the crisis, setting the Greek case alongside those of Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Drawing on agenda-setting and framing theories and applying a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis, Tzogopoulos suggests that Greece's "exotic" political system, with its clientelistic networks and political dynasties spanning several generations, was ideal for journalists seeking easily digestible explanations. The argument is engaging...' Times Higher Education 'Greece, as Tzogopoulos argues, has been an ideal case for international journalists to study corruption, clientelism and other social and political pathologies. The coverage of its crisis, in the same way as the coverage of the Eurozone crisis overall, is a dynamic process, influenced by cultural, political and organisational factors. As the euro crisis develops, it seems certain that a lot of academic work will similarly engage with how its various aspects are communicated to the public and the role of the media in the promotion or fragmentation of the European idea. In this line of work to follow, this book is definitely a good start.' LSE Review of Books 'George Tzogopoulos offers a thorough analysis of the international media coverage on the sovereign debt crisis, which with the passage of time proved to be much more than that - a crisis of trust. He has brought his skills as a seasoned journalist to this in-depth study leveraging his journalism experience combined with original research. ... Academics and specialists will gain insight from the wide spread of issues analysed. They will more easily appreciate the more technical side of Tzogopoulos' analysis through the language of 'metastasis' effects, the 'pathogenies' of Greek society, and 'Poleconomics in Unreliability'. However, the book is also highly recommended for the lay reader, which at an initial level is an excellent reference for the developments of the Greek crisis. A holistic and objective view of events is often difficult to discern amongst the mass of personal opinions and specific news stories which proliferate in the media. Here Tzogopoulos manages to offer a perfect balance of historical context, an overview of the crisis, and via the media analysis, a concise outline of causes and symptoms of problems afflicting Greece. ... Overall, the book is in itself broad in scope, edifying, and highly readable. ... an excellent contribution to the understanding of the Greek crisis and a forerunner to further analysis on these themes.' Global Media Journal This timely book offers a richly documented analysis of one of the most prominent articulations of the ongoing global economic recession, focusing on its reporting in the international press. ... Tzogopoulos' book offers a comprehensive and readable account of the Greek crisis and its reverberations in the media, which should be of interest not only to specialists but also to a wider audience interested in the ongoing financial crisis and the ways in which it is intertwined with the media. European Journal of Communication 'This is a well-written book, presented in a very accessible manner, and it deserves to be widely read by academics and non-academics alike.' Journal of Contemporary European Studies '... this is an interesting and useful book for anyone interested in how the crisis and its resolution have been constructed through elite and neoliberal discourses. It is also a useful resource for tracing the developments between the Greek government and the IMF/ECB/EU during 2009-2012. The great number of news articles compiled and referred to are also valuable as a basis for further exploration of how the crisis has been represented in the European and US press. A critical reading of this book should also be of interest to those engaged in scholarship on Cypriot media and public spheres. It will provide food for thought on how national stereotypes with roots in colonial discourses are implicitly used to promote neoliberal understandings of the crisis and its resolution. It may also be useful as a reference point for thinking about how the Eurozone crisis in Cyprus has been discussed in Cypriot mediaspheres, as well as in mediaspheres across Europe and the region.' The Cyprus Review
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